


You Are Life I Needed

by odofidi



Series: Someone Exactly Like You [13]
Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: BBQ, Boys In Love, Can be read as a stand alone, Cottage Living, Established Relationship, Family Bonding, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Home improvements, Love, M/M, Marriage, Post Season 6, Post-Canon, Rosehill Cottage, SO MUCH FLUFF, an excess of fluff, cottage life, these two idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:40:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25986784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/odofidi/pseuds/odofidi
Summary: Marcy and Clint visit to help with some home improvements around the cottage.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Series: Someone Exactly Like You [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1703641
Comments: 18
Kudos: 167





	You Are Life I Needed

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the August edition of "I had a week off from school so this is how I filled my extra time" or alternatively, I needed some lovely happy mush so now you get it too.
> 
> As always, though part of a series this can be read as a stand-alone. References are made to past installments of this series, but nothing that should be too confusing (At least I hope not. I live in this world now so who am I to really know).
> 
> Title comes from Futile Devices by Sufjan Stevens.
> 
> Per usual, this has not been beta read. All mistakes are mine and mine alone, and I claim them in the name of Alderaan.

David walked down the hallway towards his bedroom, a tiny black ball of energy following closely at his feet. His in-laws were due to be at the house any minute now and he hadn’t seen his husband in almost an hour. David would understand the need to hide if Johnny or Moira Rose were about to invade their home for a few days. But Marcy and Clint Brewer were the most unobtrusive house guests anyone could possibly hope for.

He walked into the room to find Patrick sprawled across the neatly made bed, his legs dangling off the side, his face turned toward the ceiling. “Um… Whatcha doin’?” David tilted his head in question as the dog raced past him, bounded up the trunk at the end of their bed and launched himself at Patrick.

Patrick let out a breath of surprise as the dog landed on his chest. He wrapped his hands around the overly excited dog and in an attempt to get them to calm down as he struggled to sit up. “Just… taking a minute.”

“Mmm. Well, you’ve been ‘taking a minute’ for an hour. Your parents are going to be here any second.”

Patrick sighed, finally getting himself in a fully upright position, the dog still wriggling against his chest, attempting to lick every inch of Patrick he could find. “No, I know. Just, gearing up. It’s going to be a long weekend. A lot of work.”

“You do know you’re the one who wanted this, right? You’re the one who insisted you could do the whole thing, just you and your dad. I wanted to bring Ronnie in…”

“David. We can only afford this because my dad and I are going to be doing all the work.”

David hummed again as he stepped into the bathroom to check his hair. “I’m sorry, if you’re looking for my sympathies… I wasn’t the one wanted this whole thing.

“I didn’t hear you complain when you were picking out furniture.”

David stepped back out of the bathroom and glared at Patrick. “I don’t like what you’re insinuating.”

Patrick grinned triumphantly, his grip on the dog becoming loose. The dog immediately took advantage, stretching up in Patrick’s lap and attempting to lick his face as Patrick arched back and away.

“You let that dog lick your face and I won’t let you near mine.” David snarked, a twisted sour look upon his face.

“What are you implying?”

“That its unhygienic.”

“You let the dog lick you.”

“Not my face. That’s disgusting.”

Patrick gasped, mockingly. “How dare you. Don’t speak to my son like that.”

“Oh my god.” David half mumbled as he rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, the sound of car doors closing drifting in from the driveway.

*****

Several hours later found Patrick and Clint kneeling in the grass, surrounded by planks of wood, a container of nails, and various tools of both the electric and manual variety. As they worked Patrick couldn’t help but smile, picturing the finished product. It was the one thing he wanted more than anything when they had purchased the house, a back deck where he could grill and where David could drink his coffee on lazy Sunday mornings.

Though he was hot, sweaty, and they had finished the frame and were only about half of the way through on the majority of the deck, Patrick was enjoying himself. He as pretty sure that at the end of the weekend he was going to be so sore he wouldn’t be able to stand and the likelihood that he was going to slam his thumb with a hammer was high, but it had been a long time since he’d spent this much time with just his father.

Before he left for Schitt’s Creek, in what David lovingly referred to as his gay panic, he spent at least one day a week with Clint, fixing little things around the house or Patrick and Rachel’s apartment, or just watching a Jays game. It wasn’t until he left that he realized just how much he had taken those days for granted. So, when Clint offered to help him build out the deck in their backyard, Patrick jumped at the chance. Even though things with his parents had been good for over a year now, he still felt a bit like he was making up for the two years he spent keeping them in the dark about his life.

“So how come you decided to go with the stone pit instead of something you could put on the deck?”

Patrick paused in his work and looked over at Clint. He glanced over at the area where they’d be building out a stone fire pit later in the weekend. “I thought about it, but David wasn’t real thrilled with the idea of a fire so close to the house. He wanted a little bit of distance. He said it was because he didn’t want the house to catch fire, but honestly, I think he didn’t want the smoke drifting into the house.”

Clint smiled and laughed lightly. “Something tells me David is very particular about that kind of stuff.”

Patrick smiled. “Mmm, what gave you that impression?” They both grinned at each other and broke out into laughter.

“Should I not expect David to come out and help us, then?”

“David’s not really a manual labor kind of guy.”

“Ex _cuse_ you.” Patrick glanced up to find David standing in the doorway of the sliding door, leaning casually against the frame. “I contributed. I picked out the patio set. And the chairs for the fire pit. And the stain.”

Patrick bit back a laugh. “Oh, I’m sorry. My mistake. You’ve done the bulk of the work. It’s basically done. This should be a breeze.”

David rolled his eyes at him. “Sarcasm isn’t as cute on you as you think it is.”

“I have three years of evidence to the contrary.”

David gave him a look that could only be interpreted as _okay, sure_. “Your mom and I are going to head out.”

“You guys are headed to the Elmdale mall, right?”

David nodded. “Mmhmm. Your mom wants me to help her pick out an outfit for that wedding they’re going to. And then we’re going to head to the nursery and grab the plants I ordered for the flower boxes. We should only be gone a couple of hours. We’ll grab Chinese for dinner?”

Patrick nodded. “Sounds good.”

“We’re gonna take your car.”

“Um, why?”

“Because it’ll be easier to put all the stuff for the flower boxes in your trunk. Plus, I can fold down the seats to lay everything flat.”

“Sure. Sure. And?”

“Hmm?”

“And?”

“And I’m not getting dirt all over my car!”

“There it is.”

David scoffed. “Ugh. Please remember that the dog is out here with no ability to come back inside while you’re working in front of his door. Do not let him get dehydrated.”

Patrick couldn’t help but smile softly at his husband for that. “Yes dear. Anything else?”

“Don’t let yourself get dehydrated. Or your dad. And please reapply sunscreen often. No one wants to buy luxury skin care products from someone with a sunburn.”

“Okay, David.” He turned back to the deck and began lining up another board for Clint to secure in place. “Have fun.”

“Be safe please. No nails through human skin.” Patrick nodded at him absentmindedly. “I mean it, Patrick. I will call in reinforcements if I have to.”

“David. We’ll be fine. Have fun shopping.” David sighed and nodded, he knew the end of a discussion when he saw one. He heard Patrick’s shout as he walked away. “Love you!”

Patrick was pretty sure he heard David mumble “Yeah, yeah. Love you.” as he made his way through the house. With a smirk, he turned back to the deck to find his father staring at him. “What?”

“Nothing.” Clint shook his head and moved the nail gun into place, tacking down the board they were holding. “It’s just nice to see you like this.”

“What, bickering with my husband?”

“Well… yeah.” Clint laughed as they moved together to place the next board. “You were never this relaxed before. We never noticed because… well we had nothing else to compare it to. It never seemed like you were acting strangely, because you were acting the way you always did. But this? This is how you were always meant to be. I’m just glad I get to experience that.”

They moved together in silence for a few minutes, placing the next few boards with ease.

It was Patrick who finally broke the silence between them. “I’m sorry.” Clint looked up at him, eyebrows raised. “For the two years. For… For the silence.”

“Oh Patty.” Clint clasped his hand onto Patrick’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Your mum and I don’t love that we lost those two years, lost that time getting to know who our son really is. But we understand. If it’s what it took for you to become the man you are? We’d rather have lost those two years than never get to know the real you.”

Patrick nodded slowly, staring at his father. “Not going to lie, didn’t think building a deck would bring about a conversation with you that would make me cry. But, here we are.” He lifted the sunglasses off his face to brush the tears off his face. “Thank you, Dad. I’m still sorry but… thank you.”

“Anytime, kid. Anytime.” Clint grabbed his shoulders and pulled his son into his arms. “Besides, if it wasn’t for those two years we wouldn’t have David as our son-in-law, and our bathroom wouldn’t look nearly as good as it does.” Patrick burst out laughing as he pulled back from his father.

“Mmm. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over my time with David, it’s that his opinions may seem like a lot at first, but damn it if he isn’t almost always right.” Clint laughed. “And if you tell him I said that I will deny it.”

Clint made a gesture that indicated he understood and together they moved to continue their work. “Is this the last big project for the house?”

Patrick paused for a moment, thinking over the list of things David still kept on his phone. “For the most part. I know David would like to redo the ensuite bath. But it’s functional so I don’t think it’s something we are going to be doing anytime soon.”

“Your ensuite is nice. Last I saw of it, it didn’t need to be redone.”

“David wants a spa tub.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah. It means taking space away from the shower, but not too much. It’s… We’ll do it someday. But for now, it’s not a priority. I’d like to do some stuff at the store before we do anything else here.” Clint raised an eyebrow, encouraging Patrick to continue as they placed more boards, Clint nailing them in place. “I’ve started looking into what it would take to buy the building.”

“Really?”

Patrick nodded. “We want to expand the space a bit. Add a dedicated space for all the workshops and activities David puts together. Expand into a place where our vendors can teach creative classes. Plus there’s a second floor we don’t really have access to. It’d make great offices for David and I, and a dedicated space to deal with the Rosebud Group’s orders and all the extra online business we’ve been doing.”

“So business is good?”

Patrick nodded as they began placing the last few boards. “Really good. The Rosebud expansion has been pretty great for us. We’re now supplying all ten locations that they have up and running, with several more reopening in a few months. They’re constantly adding locations. We’ve been getting a lot of online traffic from people staying at a Rosebud. Between that and Alexis’s digital marketing strategy?” Patrick shrugged. “We ended the fiscal year having turned our highest profit and we’re on track to beat that by more than double for this year.”

“Patrick.” Clint stopped and stared at his son for a moment before nailing down the final board. “That’s amazing, son. Really.”

“Thanks.” Patrick grinned as they stepped back, the final nail having been put in place. “We’re pretty happy about it.”

Patrick moved away from the deck over to the little table he had set up with water and sunscreen. He pulled off his hat and reapplied the sunscreen before grabbing a bottle of water and leaned down to empty it into the little dish that sat on the grass. He moved the dish out of the sun and placed it in the shadow of the table before letting out a sharp whistle.

From his place in the shade under the tree towards the back of the yard, Falkor, their black labradoodle, came bounding forward. He ignored Patrick for the water and began drinking furiously. Patrick collapsed on the grass next to him, drinking deeply from his own bottle. He looked over at the deck and smiled as he drank, his free hand brushing through the dog’s hair softly.

“Looks good.”

Clint, standing on the other side of the table, nodded as he opened a bottle of water and dumped some of it on the top of his head before drinking deeply. “Nice to know we haven’t lost our touch.” He smiled as he glanced down at Patrick, in the backyard of the home he owned with his husband, sitting in the grass with his dog, looking out over the deck they had built together.

Those two years were worth it, for this moment.

*****

By the time Clint and Patrick had finished sanding, staining, and sealing the deck and the large flower boxes that would border it, the sun was hanging low in the sky. They were finishing cleaning up all of the tools and debris when Patrick heard the distinct sounds of his husband moving through the house. As the sounds moved closer to the back of the house and David could be heard from inside the kitchen, Patrick stuck his foot out, stopping the dog from rushing up the still drying deck.

“No. You wreck all the work we just did and you sleep in the kitchen.” Patrick muttered to the dog as David appeared at the sliding glass door.

“Hi. All done?”

Patrick nodded as he and Clint gathered the final pieces of equipment in their arms. “Yup. We can’t touch it for 12 hours, but yes.”

David smirked. “I’ll leave my judgement for tomorrow then, when all the furniture is on it.” Patrick rolled his eyes, a smile on his face. “Come eat.”

Patrick nodded once more before leading the way around the house towards the garage. He whistled sharply and smiled as he heard the dog following quickly. “Good boy.”

Clint laughed as he followed a step behind. “Wow. You’ve had that dog for barely two months and you already have him so well trained.”

Patrick shrugged. “It was easy. Falkor’s a quick study.”

“Can I ask… Falkor? Where did that name come from?”

“Do you remember the movie _The NeverEnding Story_?”

“Not particularly.”

“It was the one about the kid, who reads a book while hiding from bullies and ends up being part of the story? Atreyu, the horse, the nothing? I used to watch it all the time.”

“Okay, sounds familiar.”

“Falkor is the big dragon-dog hybrid looking thing that he flies around on at the end.”

Clint nodded as they entered the garage and put away the last of the tools. “Wasn’t that thing white?”

Patrick grinned. “Oh, yeah. So while I do think our dog does look like the puppet from the film, I also knew it would drive David nuts to have our black dog named after a white dragon.”

“You two have a very strange dynamic.”

Patrick shrugged as he opened the front door for his father. “Yeah. But we make it work.”

Later, after they had all filled up on Chinese food, they had settled comfortably in the living room with tea and coffee, watching a movie. Even after a full year of his parents knowing truly who he was, to be sitting on the couch in his home, his husband bracketed by himself and his mother, his father sitting comfortably in the chair beside them; Patrick still couldn’t believe that his life had turned out so wonderful.

He hadn’t been sure, at first, on David’s choice for a movie to watch with his parents. Watching any sort of romance story with your parents can inevitably become a little bit awkward depending on the plot line. It doesn’t matter how old you are, watching a sex scene with your parents will always be weird for everyone watching, but David’s choice of _Stardust_ seemed to be working well for everyone.

Sinking into the calm, Patrick found himself tucking himself further into David’s side, angling his body to press more fully against David’s shoulder, luxuriating in the warmth and love that seemed to be permeating throughout the room.

“Oooh, Clint likes her.” Marcy’s voice rang out from the other end of the couch as Michelle Pfeiffer was brought back to her young and beautiful state on screen.

“Clint has good taste.” David responded instantly. “Obviously.” He gestured towards his mother-in-law, who smiled at him. “But also, yes. 100% she can _absolutely_ get it.” He glanced at Clint.

“Did you just say, ‘she can get it’ to my dad?” Patrick asked incredulously, sitting up slightly.

“Yes. Yes I did.” He turned to Patrick with a smug look on his face. “And what is your opinion?” He gestured toward the screen.

“Don’t look at me, I’m gay.”

“So, what, you can’t appreciate the female form?”

“There’s appreciating the female form, and then there’s whatever _this_ conversation is. Those two are mutually exclusive.”

“Should I wait to ask your opinion then on Charlie Cox when he gets his little make over which, normally I would find very off brand but in this works?”

Patrick laughed and rolled his eyes, snuggling back down against David. “Just watch the movie, David.”

“Oh, it’s Henry Cavill you’d rather have a conversation about. Isn’t it?”

Patrick pointedly ignored him, focusing instead on the film, as Marcy and Clint laughed.

*****

Patrick walked out of the bathroom to a sight that was becoming more and more of a frequent occurrence in their bedroom. David was sitting up in bed, the duvet pulled up across his lap, his knees bent ever so slightly to accommodate the massive novel he was reading. His hair was fantastically curly and a little wet from the shower he had taken and a pair of glasses sat on the bridge of his nose, in place of his contacts.

It had taken David an extremely long amount of time to be willing to wear his glasses around Patrick. To this day Patrick wasn’t even sure if Alexis or his parents had ever seen David in them. For years, David wore 24-hour disposable contacts, changing them out each morning so that no one would see him in a pair of frames.

The first time it had happened, long after they had been dating and gotten engaged, Patrick had startled back to see David in them. He had to stop and think for a moment if he even really knew that David wore contacts. He’d certainly never seen him change them, or pull out contact solution as part of his myriad of skin care products. When he remarked on it to David, it had resulted in a conversation about being comfortable enough to be vulnerable with people, and ended with David admitting that after some ex or another had remarked that his face just _‘wasn’t meant for glasses’_ and subsequently broken up with him, David vowed to never let another person see him in them.

It had only happened the one time before they were married. David had grabbed two of the same eye lenses by accident during his packing and had resorted to the emergency glasses purely out of necessity. No amount of appreciation from Patrick, however had convinced David that they were a good look on him. The second he could get back to the motel the next morning to acquire the correct lenses, David’s glasses had been tucked away and Patrick hadn’t seen them for months afterwards.

But something had changed with them after the trip to his parent’s house at Easter. There had been a deeper level of trust and understanding that neither of them had shied away from. The conversation on Clint and Marcy’s front porch had driven away the little drops of self-doubt that David had still been holding on to. And in the last few months, the glasses had been making more and more appearances at night. Patrick certainly wasn’t about to complain about it.

Patrick paused in the doorway and looked at his husband, snuggled up in their bed, the dog nestled in beside him. It was everything he had ever wanted and for the second time that night, Patrick was in awe.

“Well look at the two of you, my knuddelbärchen.”

“What?!” David looked up at Patrick in surprise as Patrick pulled down the covers on his side of the bed.

“Its German for ‘little cuddle bear’.”

“That might be the worst one yet.”

Patrick snorted out a laugh as he climbed into the bed. As he slipped under the covers, the dog shifted, moving himself closer to David. By the time Patrick was settled in bed fully, the dog was practically on David’s lap, as far away from Patrick as possible.

Patrick stared at the dog with a deep feeling of annoyance. “When did he become your dog?”

“What?” David didn’t even look up from his book, but Patrick noticed that one of David’s hands was no longer holding up his novel. Rather it was buried deep into Falkor’s fur, his fingers flexing in a soft petting motion.

“Falkor. It’s like I’m the second-rate parent over here. I climb into bed and he scoots away from me to be with you!”

“Maybe it’s because you keep insisting on calling him your child. It’s insulting to his dog autonomy.”

“But you picking out his bow tie every day is totally fine.”

David closed his book and placed it on his nightstand. “Lots of people have stylists.”

“Do lots of people clear out entire drawers in their closets for their dog’s collars?”

“If they are as nice as the ones I’ve bought? Yes.” David lifted the dog and placed him further down the bed closer to their feet before shifting down into the pillows.

Patrick shifted down next to him. “How was shopping with my mum?”

“Good. I always have a good time with Marcy. Plus, I found some surprisingly good stuff at the mall for her to wear to that wedding. I mean… I had to dig but I found it.” David smiled and turned toward Patrick. “Did you have a nice time with your Dad? I know it’s been a while since you two spent the whole day together.”

Patrick mirrored his position, tucking his hands under his head. “It was really good, actually. We haven’t… we used to spend time like that all the time. I didn’t realize how much I missed it.”

David reached out and stroked a single finger down Patrick’s nose. Patrick closed his eyes at the sensation, a small smile playing across his face. “I’m really glad, honey.” David continued to move his finger slowly up and down Patrick’s nose, his voice dropping an octave, barely above a whisper. “We should plan another trip back to your parents’ before the year is over. That way you can have more days like today.”

Patrick sighed into David’s motion. “You’re gonna make me fall asleep.”

“Kinda the point.” David reached back to click the switch, plunging the room into darkness. “Go to sleep. Another big day of backyard make over tomorrow.”

“Mmmm.” Patrick’s voice was low and rumbly as sleep tugged at him. “But this time you’ll be there.”

“Strictly in a supervisory capacity. But yeah… I’ll be there.” David smiled into the darkness as he kept his finger moving slowly along Patrick’s nose.

In almost no time Patrick’s breathing completely evened out as sleep finally won the battle. David leaned forward and placed a soft kiss against Patrick’s forehead before pulling away and rolling over into his back. He felt Patrick snuffle in his sleep and shift against David, his arm slipped low across David’s stomach as his head nestled against David’s shoulder.

David half frowned-half smiled as he wrapped his arm around Patrick and pulled him closer, letting sleep win its own battle against him.

*****

When Patrick woke the next morning, he was surprised to find himself alone in bed. He paused for a moment, listening to hear if David was in the bathroom. When no sounds emerged, he sat up and looked around the room. It was completely empty of any other life. No David. No Falkor. Just silence.

He reached for the phone at his bedside, expecting it to be very late in the morning, only to find it was barely past seven. Panic rose in his chest at what could have forced David out of bed so early. He got up quickly, threw on a light sweatshirt and shoved his feet into whatever pair of socks his hand landed on when he reached in his dresser, before heading downstairs.

He could tell from the stairs that the dining room was empty and as he stepped around the corner he found the living room equally void of humans. But as he walked down the short hall to the kitchen, he could hear quiet voices. He paused for a moment in the doorway to the kitchen and listened to the murmur of David and his mother talking. He couldn’t make out any of the words they were saying but it seemed like a happy conversation nonetheless.

He stepped into the kitchen and found them sitting at the table up against the big bay window on the other side of the room. As he shuffled towards them, David looked up and smiled, bright and luminous.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Patrick walked over to them. “What are you doing up?”

David pointed to the dog sleeping on one of his dog beds by the sealed off dog door. “Someone couldn’t use his own door this morning so he woke me up until I took him out.”

Patrick grimaced. “Sorry.” David merely shrugged.

“Tea?” Marcy asked him as Patrick slid onto the bench against the window.

“Yes, please. Thanks, Mum.” He smiled at Marcy as she stood and moved over to the island, grabbing the extra mug she had placed out earlier and preparing a cup of tea. Patrick leaned forward on the table and nudged David slightly. “Good morning.” He whispered softly, as a smile crept over David’s face.

David leaned into Patrick’s space and kissed him lightly, hyper aware of Marcy’s presence in the room. As he pulled back he whispered, “Morning.”

Marcy walked back over to them, placing the mug in front of Patrick before reclaiming her chair across from him. “David was just telling me about the Rosebud’s next expansion.”

Patrick nodded, taking a deep sip from his mug. “Should be pretty big for them. And us.”

“Dad was telling me you’re buying the building for the store?”

Patrick caught the startled look on his husband’s face as he smiled at his mother. “Not yet. Just looking into it. Preliminary stuff.”

“I was gonna say…” David mumbled as he took another sip of his coffee. Patrick laughed softly, reaching out a hand to rub affectionately across David’s forearm.

The three of them sat and talked comfortably for several minutes before Marcy got up and announced she was going to make breakfast. David and Patrick began to protest, insisting that she didn’t need to do that as their guest, but she shooed them away.

“I’m also going to fill your freezer today.” Patrick’s eyes lit up even as he assured her it wasn’t necessary. “I know it’s not. But I want to.”

Patrick shrugged. “If it makes you happy…”

“Any requests? Other than lasagna?” She cut him off as he opened his mouth to speak. When Patrick shook his head, she turned to David. “What about you, dear? Anything in particular you’d like.”

“Um…” David sucked his lips in between his teeth as he glanced over at her. “That pork pie thing you made at Christmas was… well I’m not sure _divine_ even covers it…”

Marcy laughed and nodded, pulling out a notepad and a pen from the drawer in the island. “You got it. Eggs? Pancakes?”

Patrick nodded and stood, moving to help his mother while David hummed happily.

*****

After Clint had finally woken up and breakfast had been shared, they went about getting ready for the day. Just a few short hours later found the flower boxes full with Marcy and David’s purchases from the day before, lined up neatly along the edges of the deck. Clint and Patrick were hard at work completing the fire put that was to sit just slightly off to the side of the deck while Marcy helped David with the placement of two sets of patio furniture David had picked out, a table with chairs and an outdoor sofa and arm chair set.

David stood back from the sofa and arm chairs with a decorative pillow in his hand contemplating its placement as Marcy walked out from the kitchen. The table and chairs sat to the right of her, the umbrella up, providing shade, while the sofa set sat to the left, its own shade provider placed behind the sofa, near the house. She smiled as she watched over the yard, David contemplating deeply every tiny detail while her husband and son continued to place stone after stone in a circle.

“Oh Patrick. We ran into Michelle last week. She wanted us to thank you again for Benjamin’s birthday present. She says he loves it, though she isn’t 100% certain what exactly it is you got him.”

Patrick stood up fully from his bent over position at the fire pit and looked over at his mother. “I have no idea what we got him, honestly. David handled it.”

Marcy looked over at her son-in-law, who looked startled and apprehensive. “It was a build your own renaissance weapon kit.” Marcy’s eyebrows raised, startled. “It said ages four and up! Patrick said he loves that stuff!” He turned towards his husband pleadingly. “Patrick!”

He turned away with a scoff when the only response he seemed to get from his husband was laughter, a response that was decidedly unhelpful. “He can’t hurt anyone with them, I promise. They were just models!”

”A renaissance weapon kit?” Marcy asked, a note of amazement in her voice.

“Patrick said he loved like… war stuff. Battle ships and different guns and… I mean I guess if he pointed it at someone’s face it could hurt but… It was based on DaVinci’s designs! It was… artistic and scientific. I thought it was a nice combo of, you know…” he trailed off lamely, his wedding ring spinning wildly around his finger.

“I’m sure it was great, sweetheart. Michelle said he loved it. She said it was wooden and had lots of parts.”

“Yeah, well… You pop out all the pieces and then build the different weapons. A ballista, a bombard… a catapult.”

Patrick stood up again in surprise. “You bought my godson a built your own ballista?!”

“Not a _real_ one!” David insisted, his voice raising several octaves. “If you’re so _concerned_ with my present choices maybe _you_ should handle it next time!”

“David. I was in the middle of preparing our taxes. You know, so we don’t get audited.”

“Excuses.” David mumbled as he moved the pillow from where he had placed it on one of the arm chairs to the sofa and then back again.

As Patrick and Clint moved back from the completed fire pit, David moved forward, grabbing one of the Adirondack chairs he had specially ordered and moving them into place. The idea of going to Jake for yet another piece of custom furniture in their house hadn’t been David’s favorite part of this whole experience, though he did manage to get through it without being kissed again, and he had to admit the chairs were beautiful.

When everything was placed where he wanted it to be, David stepped back, deeper in to the yard, so that he could see the completed deck and the fire pit in all of their glory. He smiled as Patrick stepped in place just slightly behind him, one arm flung across David’s shoulder as he hooked his chin over the other.

“Looks good.”

“Isn’t that my line?” David turned his head ever so slightly to place a kiss on Patrick’s cheek. “It does look very nice though.” Patrick hummed in agreement. “Except…”

“Except?”

“It’s missing something.” Patrick stepped back slightly, his eyebrows raised in question. “Just one little…” David walked away toward the side of the house. “Clint? Could you help me for a moment?”

Clint followed David quickly, the two of them disappearing around the side of the house. Patrick stood for a moment, confusion etched across his face. A moment later David reappeared, though he was walking backwards and appeared to be carrying one half of a very heavy object. Patrick watched in awe as David and his father brought the grill into view, moving together to place it up on the deck. He shook his head slowly as David directed Clint in setting up in the perfect spot, close to the table but not too close. He walked up the yard to the deck and stepped up to his husband.

“What did you do?”

David turned to him, a massive smile on his face. “This is the one you wanted, right?”

“How did you know?”

“You walked over to it literally every time we went to the store.”

“But we agreed to wait on anything else since we splurged on the more expensive lounge set…”

“Okay, _yes_ …”

“And the custom chairs for the fire pit.”

“ _Again_ , I know, but…” Patrick attempted to protest again but David cut him off, raising his voice. “I didn’t go over budget!” Patrick startled back at David’s sudden shout. “Sorry. That was aggressive. I just meant, I talked the sales associate into letting me buy the floor model, so it was already discounted. And there’s a slight ding on the back of the hood so it was damaged. And I had that 20% off thing from when we bought the rest of the furniture. They basically paid _me_ to take it. So, just… be happy!”

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” He leaned forward and kissed David softly. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” David kissed him again.

“We should go to the store and get stuff to grill tonight, break in the new deck before my parents leave tomorrow.”

“The fact that you think I didn’t do that already is a little insulting.”

Patrick smiled, placing his hand on the small of David’s back as they walked back into the house. “We should get a fire going after. Did you get stuff for s’mores?”

“It’s like you don’t know me at all.”

*****

For the second time in two days David found himself up before everyone else. Despite the fact that the dog door was no longer blocked from use, Falkor aggressively nudged and pushed at David until he woke up, walked downstairs, and let him out. Knowing there was no way he was going to be able to fall back asleep, and not wanting to wake up Patrick who had all but collapsed into bed the night before, exhausted after two full days of manual labor, David wrapped himself in a throw blanket, made a cup of coffee, and settled himself in one of the arm chairs on the deck.

He took a deep sip from his mug as he looked out over the backyard. Though deeply resentful of the small dog that now lay peacefully asleep at his feet, David couldn’t help but smile at the way life had turned out.

He watched as the sun rose slowly over the tree line at the back of the yard and marveled at all that he had become. For all the dreaming and imagining David had done over the years in his wedding binder, he had always avoided imagining what came after. The actual marriage part. As he sat in the quiet, the world slowly waking up around him, he realized what he had; the marriage, the house, a husband who would do anything for him, in-laws who he loved like they were his own parents, a successful business, and even the dog – never in his wildest imagination could he have ever come up with this life.

This was so much better than any dream, any fantasy, any wish he could have ever made.

He had left his phone plugged in by his bedside, so he had no idea of how long he had been sitting there, staring off into the distance when he heard the sliding glass door open. He turned, expecting either Patrick or Marcy, and was shocked to see his father-in-law standing there, his own mug in his hands.

“Morning, David.”

He cleared the sleep from his throat. “Morning.”

“Mind if I join you?’

David smiled and gestured towards the other seats around him. “Not at all. Please.”

Clint nodded and took a seat in the chair opposite David. They sat for a moment, not in completely comfortable silence, but a close approximation of it, as David waged a war inside of himself on whether or not to have the conversation he was dreading with his father-in-law.

Realizing that now was probably one of the only times he would truly get a moment alone with him, David cleared his throat and dove in.

_Unto the breach, right?_

“Thank you… for coming all the way out here to help Patrick with the deck. It… it was something he really wanted and I am just _so_ not the person you want helping with these kinds of projects.”

Clint smiled as he took another sip from his mug. “My pleasure. It was fun. I had forgotten how much fun we used to have on weekends, puttering around the house, working on little projects here and there. I didn’t realize how much I missed it.” Clint smiled wistfully.

“I… I know this isn’t what you always dreamed for him…”

“All we ever dreamed was he’d be happy and loved.” Clint met David’s eyes fully. “You give him so much more than Marcy and I could have ever dreamed for him.”

David nodded, a single tear falling down his cheek. “I know Marcy has expressed some… disappointment at the fact that we won’t be having children. I just – “

“Marcy will get over it.” Clint cut him off, a knowing look on his face. “You and Patrick need to live your lives the way that makes _you_ happy. Just you two. And _only_ you two. There comes in a time in every parent’s life that they are forced to realize that the life they may have dreamed for their child isn’t the life that child wants. Or needs. And they have to accept that. Marcy and I never made our decisions based on what our parents wanted, and neither can you. Hell, if we’d listened to my mum, Patrick would be the oldest of six kids. And Marcy’s mother wanted us to move to Montreal!”

They both laughed softly, the sound echoing down the quiet back yard. “As long as you keep my son happy, we’ll be happy.”

“That’s the only thing I have ever truly wanted to do.”

“Then David, everything is great.” Clint grinned.

“Even if that means you’ll never have a grandkid to play catch with? Or who will bake with Marcy?”

Clint shrugged. “Just means we’ll have to pour all that excess love into you two.” He glanced down at the sleeping dog by David’s feet. “And Marcy will 100% start to do insane things for your dog. Like… knit him sweaters and send him wrapped gifts for major holidays.”

David laughed at the idea, knowing Marcy would do exactly that. He shifted back into his seat, the tension he hadn’t realized had settled in his shoulders, slowly dissipating. “So, six kids?”

Clint let out a deep breath. “Yeah. Marcy and I both come from big families. Catholics.” He shrugged as though that was the answer for everything. “We never planned on Patrick being an only child. Not necessarily six, but… we always talked about having three or four.”

“What changed?”

“Patrick.” Clint smiled softly and David recognized the look as one he found on his own face frequently. It was the face of someone who knew what it was like to love and be loved by Patrick Brewer. “We held him at the hospital, and just knew… we were complete. We didn’t need anything more than what we already had.” He locked eyes with David. “Something tells me you understand that feeling.”

David nodded slowly, his voice barely above a whisper. “I really do.”

“You know,” Clint looked down at the mug in his hand for a moment before looking back up at David. “We’ve never talked about what you did for my son. Last year, on his birthday. Coming to our motel room, ready to defend him without knowing what our reaction would be. That was…” Clint trailed off, words escaping him.

“I just love your son.” David shrugged slightly. “Very much. And as much as I know he protects me, I want to protect him. From ever being hurt. No matter who from.”

“David, if nothing else, the one thing I knew for certain after that weekend was how much you love my son. And that I’d _never_ have to worry about him. Not when he has you.”

“Who has you?”

David jumped slightly at Patrick’s voice as he walked towards the two of them. “Um, Falkor. Obviously.” David cleared his throat and attempted to wipe the tears from his face without Patrick noticing.

“Okay…” Patrick’s eyebrows quirked in concern as he walked over to David. He leaned down and kissed him gently, a quiet “Good morning” murmured against his lips.

David smiled as they pulled away. “Morning.”

“Morning, Dad. Mum has requested that you please go inside and finishing packing so that you don’t, quote, get home sometime after midnight like a drunk high schooler trying to sneak back in.”

Clint smiled ruefully and rolled his eyes as he stood and started walking towards the door. “So dramatic. We’ve never gotten home after midnight.”

“2003! Driving back from your mother’s house at Christmas! We walked in the door after two am!” Marcy’s voice rang out through the open kitchen window.

Patrick and David laughed as Clint walked back into the house, his response coming through. “That doesn’t count! It was snowing! It’s July! We’re not going to get stuck in a freak blizzard in _July_ , Marcy!”

The sound of their good-natured bickering drifted away as the two of them made their way back into the guest room off the kitchen.

Patrick sat down on the arm of David’s chair and looped an arm around David’s shoulder, smiling as he felt David’s arm resting around his waist. In the early morning sunshine, he could see the tear track glistening across David’s cheeks.

He slipped a finger under David’s chin and tilted David’s face back to meet his eyes. “Hey. Are you okay?”

David nodded as best he could against Patrick’s finger and spoke quietly. “Fine.”

Patrick frowned and brushed a thumb across and through one of the tear tracks. “What were you guys talking about?”

David smiled brighter, leaning up to take advantage of their few moments of privacy to kiss his husband fully and deeply. “You.”

*****

The following Saturday, David arrived back home annoyed and frustrated. Maggie had called him into the store unexpectedly that morning after a vendor delivery arrived, a month early, and for twice the amount they had ordered. David had spent his entire morning dealing with a snippy vendor and trying to remind himself that he loved his job.

Worst still, being at the store meant that he had to leave Patrick alone to entertain all the people that he was sure wee currently filling up their back yard.

When Patrick had first come up with the plan to build the deck, he had immediately suggested throwing a big party for all their friends and neighbors to “break in the deck,” an idea that David immediately shot down. The idea of having massive amounts of people from the town invading his home was something he had only allowed once before, at Christmas, and was seriously considering convincing Patrick to do Christmas at the Brewer home this year to avoid doing so again. But Patrick had offered up the one thing he knew David wouldn’t say no to.

They’d make it a bar-be-que and he’d get everyone to bring all of the dishes that David loved the most. It was manipulative and sneaky and damn it if it didn’t work perfectly.

David had braced himself all week for the onslaught of people he knew would be in his home, armed with the knowledge that it also meant getting to have more of that potato salad that Ray was famous for, the seven-layer dip that Ronnie was known to bring to parties and the Nanaimo bars that Jocelyn was so fond of making.

It was the little things that kept him going. 

What he wasn’t prepared for, was having to spend his morning in the backroom of their store instead of engaging in a final clean through of their house, and ensuring that the backyard was set up for the right flow of food, drinks, and people.

As he stepped out of the car and headed towards the front door, he could hear laughter and music coming from the backyard. As he made his way into the house and through the hall down into the kitchen, the laughter got louder and he recognized the music piping through as one of the many playlists Patrick had created.

He smiled briefly at the sight of all the dishes piled on the kitchen island, a cornucopia of desserts just waiting to be taken outside when everyone was ready. He was tempted to steal one of the Nanaimo bars that he could see, or possibly one of the butter tarts that he was sure was hiding under the tin foil, knowing it would help fix his mood, but instead he kept walking, opening the screen door at the sliding glass door and stepped outside onto the deck.

And immediately regretted it.

“Dave!” Roland’s voice rang out far too loudly for someone standing directly next to him as he slapped a hand down onto David’s shoulder. “Nice of you to finally show up! You know, usually when you throw a party, you actually go to the party.”

“Mmm. Thanks for that. I’ll keep it in mind. Excuse me.” He extracted himself and moved off the deck and down the yard to the fire pit where Patrick was sitting, surrounded by Stevie, Twyla, and several others David recognized as players on Patrick’s baseball team.

Patrick glanced up as David approached, a look of concern flickering across his face at David’s body language and frustrated expression. “Hey. Everything sorted?”

David sat down on the arm of the chair Patrick was in and reached for the bottle of beer in Patrick’s hand. “Yup. Everything’s great.” He pressed the bottle to his lips and quickly drained the entire contents of the mostly full bottle.

Patrick raised his eyebrows in surprise as he stood. He placed a kiss against David’s temple, motioning for David to take his seat. “How about I get you a glass of wine? Unless you’d like another one of these?” He motioned with the empty bottle he had taken back from David.

“Wine, please. Red. Big glass.” Patrick smiled and nodded, his hand brushing against David’s shoulder as he walked away towards the deck.

“Rough morning?”

David turned to find Stevie smirking next to him. “Very much so, thanks for asking.” He sighed deeply. “Sometimes I hate that I’m the one that has to deal with this stuff.” Stevie nodded, taking a sip from her own beer bottle. “You’re lucky. You have my dad to deal with all the annoying vendors who insist you’re a liar when you’re staring _at the invoice_ that you sent them.”

Stevie rolled her eyes. “Yeah. But I also have to deal _with your dad_. And Roland.”

David grimaced. “Point taken.”

Patrick appeared at his side, a glass of wine and a plate of food in his hands. He handed the glass to David, who immediately took a large sip of wine before placing it on the arm of the chair, his hands suddenly filled with the plate Patrick had made for him. He leaned back to smile up at Patrick who had taken a seat on the free arm of David’s chair, his arm coming to rest around David’s shoulders.

“You are my favorite of all my husbands.”

Patrick leaned down, placing a kiss on the top of David’s head as David began to tear through the plate. “Save room for dessert. Jocelyn made some of her Nanaimo bars drunken.”

“Drunken?”

Stevie nodded beside him. “She put Bailey’s in middle layer.”

David spun back to Patrick, urgency in his eyes. “Patrick!”

Patrick laughed, running his thumb along the side of David’s neck. “I already grabbed a couple and hid them for later.”

“A couple?”

Patrick rolled his eyes and leaned back against the chair, David resting against his weirdly angled body as the conversation moved easily to the end of the summer and the upcoming fall festival in town.

*****

Several hours later David stepped out onto the deck, looking around at what was his life. Most of the people had left, but a select few remained behind; Stevie, Twyla, several members of Patrick’s baseball team, and inexplicably Ronnie. Who appeared to be sitting on the patio lounge set chatting up the new waitress Twyla had hired at the café just a few weeks ago.

_Alright. Get it, Ronnie_.

He smiled as he watched all of the people in his life, having fun, enjoying themselves, because of Patrick.

Okay, yes, because of David too, but mainly because of Patrick. For the millionth time in their relationship, David wondered again what he had done to deserve such a man in his life.

He walked toward where Patrick stood, talking to Stevie. As she watched David approach, Stevie finished up their conversation and moved away with a gesture indicating the need for another drink.

David stepped up behind him and draped his arms over Patrick’s shoulders, leaning in to Patrick’s back, his head resting against the side of Patrick’s.

“Happy?”

Patrick smiled, reaching up to brace his hands on David’s forearms. “Very.” He turned his head and kissed David’s cheek. “Thank you.”

“I didn’t do anything. If anything, I was a hindrance.”

“Nah.” Patrick ran his hand slowly up and down David’s arm. “You were a little reluctant, not a hindrance.”

David hummed noncommittally and kissed Patrick’s shoulder. They stood for a few moments, watching their friends mingle around their yard; Stevie and several of the baseball team members sitting at the now lit fire pit talking and laughing, Twyla and another member of the baseball team sitting at the patio table talking quietly between them, Ronnie and the waitress on the lounge furniture, the waitress now _definitely_ leaning in towards Ronnie.

“So does this mean we can make this a regular thing?”

“Hmmm?”

“You know, all our friends over for a bar-be-que. Fire pit. Summer fun.”

“I’m sorry, you married _David_ Rose. If you wanted the more social of the Rose siblings you should have married Alexis.”

Patrick laughed, leaning further back into David. “Oh come on, you had fun today!”

“I had wine today. Those are two different things.” Patrick laughed. “But…”

“But?”

“But. Maybe on specific special days. Like… Canada day.”

“Labour Day?”

“Maybe.”

“Victoria Day?”

“Don’t push it.”

From over at the fire pit, David heard one of the baseball men yell “Hey, Patrick! Grab your guitar!”

As Patrick moved to step away, David tightened his arms around Patrick, stopping him abruptly. “If you don’t subject me to that I will do Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day _and_ your birthday. With the possibility of one more day. Guitar comes out… all bets are off.”

“I thought you liked it when I sang?”

“Oh I do. Very much. But the rest of your baseball team? Who have all had a _lot_ of beer? No. No. Absolutely not.”

Patrick spun in his arms, laughter bright behind his eyes. “Come on, David. It’ll be fun.”

“For who?”

Patrick grabbed his hand and dragged David towards the fire pit and the collection of people sitting around it, smiles playing across both of their faces.

**Author's Note:**

> Special shout out to the lovely reader who commented that they would love to see a conversation between David and Clint after I had written one between Patrick and Clint a few months back. Little did you know your comment would mean that I added an entire installment to this series simply so I could get that conversation in. 
> 
> Right now I have three more of these planned, but who knows what will happen between now and the completion of those. 
> 
> Remember to stay safe out there friends. Masks. Hand Washing. Distance. Protecting those most vulnerable around you. Learning about other people and fighting for the rights of all.
> 
> If you're in the US please make sure to request your mail in ballot NOW if you can in your state. And check out the safest way to return it. Don't let your voice go unheard. Vote. Protest. Help enact change. We can all do this together, by standing together. Remember; if your vote didn't matter, they wouldn't be trying so hard to take it away.
> 
> And don't ever forget; you are important and loved.


End file.
